Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Children Go To Court Over His Estate

ATLANTA, Georgia — A judge has ordered the children of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to meet in their capacity as the sole shareholders of the corporation that manages their iconic father’s estate.

King’s children were in Fulton County, Georgia, Superior Court Monday in a dispute over their parents’ estates.

Two children of the civil rights icon are suing their brother, accusing him of wrongfully taking money from their parents’ estates.

The Rev. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III allege Dexter King took “substantial funds” out of Coretta Scott King’s estate and “wrongfully appropriated” money from their father’s estate.

Dexter King has publicly denied the accusations.

It was unclear what outcome having a shareholder meeting for the Estate of Martin Luther King Jr., Inc. would have on the dispute. The three siblings have not held such a meeting since 2004, corporation attorney Luke Lantta said. The removal of Dexter King as the estate’s administrator is unlikely because that would require a meeting of the board of directors.

Judge Ural Glanville on Monday also ruled in favor of dismissing some of the allegations against Dexter King, but left the question of whether he failed to act in the best interest of his father’s incorporated estate to a jury. A trial on the allegation of breach of fiduciary duty could happen as early as next month.